Over the winter I was at my cousin's annual holiday cookie exchange. I was chatting with our other cousin's wife, who is a photographer in Dayton, and she mentioned that I should check out a Columbus photographer she knows named Nick Fancher. I asked her, "Nick Fancher? As in Studio Anywhere Nick Fancher?" She said if I ever got the chance to learn from him I should take it. I was still trying to process the part where she told me she knows him! His book is on my bookshelf!

I'd already read Studio Anywhere, and I knew that Nick was from Columbus, but for some reason it never occurred to me to reach out to him. His work is awesome. It's very different from my own style but I really appreciate his innovative ideas.

The premise of his book is that a photographer can create a studio setup anywhere, with common objects. Instead of heavy, large, expensive equipment, find innovative ways to achieve the same results with household objects. He's a bit like MacGyver in that regard.

After speaking to my cousin's wife, I decided to look up this photographer and found out he had a workshop coming up not far from me. All of this backstory is explanation for this photograph. The workshop was all about creative ways to light a subject in a boring room. This was a plain conference-type room, so believe me it was a perfect boring room that you could find anywhere.

After a couple hours of lecture and watching Nick do his stuff, it was time to play with the lights. I have my own studio lights at home and had never tried the things Nick was demonstrating. When it was time to work with the model, Julie, I tried a few different things than I would normally do.

Julie was awesome because she let me give her very specific instructions. She was great at holding a pose while I tweaked a light or had her turn her head a millimeter to the camera. I've been busy with shooting families as usual and now doing homework for this series of workshops, so I have only had time to work on my very favorite image of the night.

I did some shots where I turned the background white using the lights but I do love how the blue background complements Julie's red hair. And I love this profile picture of her because her cheekbones look amazing.

I just didn't tell her that I learned everything I know from America's Next Top Model. Tyra Banks would say she looks FIERCE!